Dialysis is a treatment used to support a patient with insufficient renal function. During hemodialysis, the patient's blood is passed through an extracorporeal hemodialysis circuit that includes a dialysis machine. In particular, the patient's blood is passed through a dialyzer of a dialysis machine while also passing a dialysis solution or dialysate through the dialyzer. A semi-permeable membrane in the dialyzer separates the blood from the dialysate within the dialyzer and allows diffusion and osmosis exchanges to take place between the dialysate and the blood stream. These exchanges across the membrane result in the removal of waste products, including solutes like urea and creatinine, from the blood. These exchanges also regulate the levels of other substances, such as sodium and water, in the blood. In this way, the dialysis machine acts as an artificial kidney for cleansing the blood.
In hemodialysis and many other medical procedures, luer connectors are used to obtain leak-free connections in fluid lines between a male fitting and a corresponding female fitting. For example, luer connectors are used to connect fluid lines to needles, syringes, catheters, fluid reservoirs, laboratory instruments, and other medical devices. In hemodialysis treatments in particular, male luer connectors are used to connect the flexible tubing of an extracorporeal blood circuit to and from a female luer connector that accesses a patient's circulatory system during the dialysis treatment.